I use a Ricoh MP7125a writer running on a WinME box. No burning probs at 12x (max speed), generic disks are OK, playable on any stereo - car, hi-fi etc. I used Nero as it came bundled with the writer.

I upgraded to Win2k Pro 6 months ago and since then Nero hasn't been able to burn a damn thing. I ALWAYS get a "medium speed error" with even Ricoh reccommended media. But get this, when i put the writer into a second pc i have (which still runs ME) it works perfectly with any blank disc. I am using v5**.19 and not running any antivirus. Oh and WIn2k SP3

Essbee, as Dolphinius mentioned above, GET ASPI 4.60. There are issues with versions of ASPI aboave 4.60 with the Win2K Kernel. Alot of users have experienced problems with 4.72. Try removing 4.72 and get 4.60 and see if this will cure your problem.

Description: ASPI layer version 4.60 (1021), for Windows 9x and Windows NT only. This includes updates to the following files: WINASPI.DLL, WNASPI32.DLL, APIX.VXD, ASPIENUM.VXD, ASPI32.SYS, and WOWPOST.EXE. Simply execute ASPI32.EXE to install/upgrade the ASPI drivers. Caution: Do NOT install ASPI32.EXE with Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP, Easy CD Creator 4.x, or with Windows Media Player 7.0. If you have one of these applications (or operating systems), you will be using a different aspi layer that will conflict with the one provided in this file.

Now, as they wrote and released this software, does it mean this will still work on my system, even tho' they say not to[?]

Or am i still missing the point somewhere? I don't mean to appear completely stupid, but if i install this and it screws up my system, i'm not going to be too happy.

It works both on unbranded discs as well as branded. The sound quality doesn't appear to be very good, but I'm trying different discs to see if its the different media that's affecting it. Strangely, though, it seems to be the same quality for diferent tracks on cheap and expensive media - a few pops and *****les, with the overall sound not as clear as i would expect from a CD.

Does the ASPI layer affect things like this, or is it the source mp3s, writer or media at work here?

Well, things didn't quite turn out right after all. I managed to burn 2 CDs, one unbranded, and one was a TDK disc. I went out and bought some Verbatim discs (as recommened by the CD writer manufacturer) and it wont touch them at all. So i installed the writer into my WinME box and the same thing - medium speed error. I have installed the ASPI 4.60 into both machines succesfully (as the checker utility tells me). Both Windows (2000 and ME) write OK to CD-RW, but at what speed i dont know. The drive will write at 10x but if its writing at this speed, i cant tell. I've checked everything - DMA disabled, no antivirus, writing CDRs at 2x etc - it simply won't write. Is my writer screwed? Or is it just one of these EXTREMELY irritating "play around until something works" senarios?

Any comments welcome. It would save me some major headaches, not to mention a fat wad of cash, cos i don't really want to go out and buy another writer. BTW, the writer has the most up-to-date firmware.

It all seems to have screwed up since i installed WIn2k - but why won't it work on a clean install of WinME like it used to? If it makes any difference, i never installed the ASPI (when everything was OK) before i upgraded to Win 2k.

And just in case you think it's a windows installation issue, this is the 4th or 5th install (for various reasons to do with RAID configs) I'm now running on just one disk. :)

If anyone would indulge me, i'll gladly email the log file i saved after the last unsucessful burn. I understand some of what it says, but maybe somebody could have a look and see if there is anything glaringly obvious as to what is happening.

And one more thing - for those that MIGHT not know, Verbatim discs are made by Misubushi Chemical Corp who i understand are one of the leading manufacturers in terms of quality, so i don't know if any other brands are better.

The fact that the burner will not run on either box, leads me to believe the burner is at fault. How long have you owned it?

I've burned CD's under just about every operating system under the sun, and I've never had a problem with Nero and Win2K.

Do you have any other burner software installed? I've noticed that installing several can affect different burning programs. Basically you can put the blame on the burner, or you can play with stuff until you believe you've got it right (which would be an endless process if the burner's shot).

Trying running the burner with a completely fresh install of Win9x or 2K (no service pack updates, minimal drivers). This should generally give you a good idea if they OS / installed software is at fault. Play around with the DMA setting. I've had problems leaving DMA on in several burners. Lastly you could try and use different software for the burner.

I have never had a problem with suffering quality on an audio CD. It should sound just like the source did, unless bad media is at fault (which you ruled out). I've burned tons of music CD's onto crappy CMC discs, and bad quality was never a problem. (most problems was the CD giving errors during recording).

If you've narrowed it down to the burner, don't sweat it --- They're cheap! I picked up a decent 16x10x40 Cyberdrive for 33.00$ brand new on Ebay. Exactlink, overburning, every feature I wanted.

Well, been away for a few days trying to sort this here writer out, but with no sucess.

Craig - thanks for ur input - i'll gladly sent 1 or 2 over. Your feedback might shed some light on this after all. I have also installed the FORCEASPI app you suggested.

Anyways, I eventually decided to go back to basics - I grabbed a spare PC, reformatted the HD and did a fresh install with WinME, as this was the last configuration that worked. The main reason for this was that both my other PCs' have a Via based motherboard. This one was Intel based, so I wanted to rule out any problems related to the 4in1 drivers, as i have read that might be a contributing factor.

So, clean OS install, no patches or drivers added (apart from a 3Com NIC diver and FORCEASPI) as I needed to copy over some files obviously :) and installed Nero v5.5.9.17.

I tried about half a dozen burns, all using Mitsubushi Chemical discs - some data files, some audio tracks and an avi movie. It returned a mixture of results: some discs got the old favourite "medium speed error" while some burnt OK but proved unreadable in every CD-ROM drive.

Reluctantly, i have to agree with my peers and accept that my 18 month old Ricoh drive is destined for the big CD-writer place in the sky. I admit i'm a bit pi**ed about it - i would have expected modern technology to be a bit more resiliant. What i still can't understand is why it all went wrong immediately after i upgraded to Win2k.

I've tried to contact Ricoh UK to see if i can get it tested (and maybe repaired) but i think after this i'll look for an new writer. I've been looking at the new Plextor 48x24x48 which looks like quite a sexy little thing. Opinions, as always, are welcome.

Anyone mind if i post a follow-up to let you know that you were all correct, and i should have bought a decent writer in the first place? [:I]

Thanks for your input over the last couple of weeks. Let's see if a new drive solves the problem.

Plextor's are ALWAYS a good choice (with 1 exception, see below), sorry to hear about your Ricoh though! just make sure you give yourself enough time to greive.

The only problem with Plextor's, and this only is a problem for small amount of people, is that they can only overburn to 94:59. If you plan to get into overburning up to 99:59, then I would suggest a newer model Yamaha, or a LiteON drive.

I managed to borrow another writer to test in both my Win2k and WinME PCs, before i went out and bought another. This one was an HP 8100 (24x4x4) - and it worked perfectly in both boxes.

Finally, i think i have proof that my Ricoh is definately faulty - unfortunatley. Even it wouldn't write at 4x. Actually, thinking about it, it wont write to CDR at all. However, curiously, it still writes OK to CDRWs.